Make the tea base: Bring the water to a boil. Remove from heat and drop in the tea and allow it to steep for about 15 minutes.
Stir in the sugar to dissolve.
Cool the tea, depending on the size of your pot, this will take a few hours. You can speed up the cooling process by placing the pot in an ice bath.
Add the starter tea: Once the tea is cool, stir in the starter tea. (The starter tea makes the liquid acidic, which prevents unfriendly bacteria from taking up residence in the first few days of fermentation.)
Transfer to jars and add the scoby: Pour the mixture into a 1-quart jar and gently slide the scoby into the jar with clean hands. Cover the mouth of the jar with a few layers of cheesecloth or paper towels secured with a rubber band.
Ferment for 7 to 10 days: Keep the jar at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, and where it won't get jostled. Ferment for 7 to 10 days, checking the kombucha and the scoby periodically. The ideal temperature range is 75 - 85F.
Begin tasting around 7 days. To taste, take a straw and slide it beneath the new culture that has formed on top. Take a sip or pull out a sample. When it reaches a balance of sweetness and tartness that is pleasant to you, the kombucha is ready to bottle.
Remove the scoby: Before proceeding, prepare and cool another pot of strong tea for your next batch of kombucha, as outlined above. With clean hands, gently lift the scoby out of the kombucha and set it on a clean plate. As you do, check it over and remove the bottom layer if the scoby is getting very thick.
Bottle and refrigerate the finished kombucha
Notes
If you know someone that makes their own Kombucha, ask if they can give you a started scobyEnjoy and consume your kombucha within a month.